2021-2022 Fellows Research
Evaluation of Free Speech and Civic Engagement: On Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Campuses for 2020 Social Justice Summer and General Election by Dr. Teri Platt Associate Professor, Department of Public Administration, Clark Atlanta University
1. Background Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) were established to serve the educational needs of black Americans, and they continue to serve educational centers that foster free expression, activism, and civic engagement for their students and surrounding communities. One-hundred and seven HBCUs exist today, and they serve over 228,000 enrolled students (HEGIS 2019). Almost all HBCUs have an articulated commitment in their mission statements or strategic plans to develop global minded citizens, develop student capacity to make meaningful contributions to communities, and to foster civic awareness and engagement. Indeed, HBCUs have been the historical sites of student activism for civil rights, issues of social justice, and democratic inclusion. Many of these same campuses have an enduring commitment to develop leaders and to preserve figurative and literal spaces for students and individuals from surrounding communities to continue rich traditions of engagement. The pandemic that gripped the world in the spring of 2020 directly impacted how institutions of higher education, HBCUs included, engaged students. Many campuses shifted to online instructional modalities, and students participated remotely in courses and campus life. Institutions rushed to develop online campus communication platforms, leverage existing social media presence, and modify policies and access for online campus engagement for course-related and extracurricular activities. Some campuses, like Clark Atlanta University, mailed every enrolled student a laptop computer and provided hotspots to those who expressed a need. Changes in campus communication and access from primarily in-person to now online, created new opportunities for campuses — particularly students, faculty, and staff — to operationalize campus missions, visions, and goals as well as expanding campus engagement and responses to the shifting social cultural contexts in new and meaningful ways.
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